BUFFALO, N.Y. — During the past decade, residents of Pasto, Colombia, and neighboring villages near Galeras, Colombia’s most dangerous volcano, have been threatened with evacuation, but compliance varies. With each new eruption — the most recent explosion occurred June 7-9 — Colombian officials have grown increasingly concerned about the safety of the residents who live within striking distance of Galeras, located 700 km from Bogota.

Now, geologists from the University at Buffalo and the Universidad de Nariño have organized a special workshop in Colombia designed to tackle the communication issue, with support from the National Science Foundation and the Universidad de Nariño.

The purpose is to develop a consensus as to how best to raise awareness and protect these communities from dangerous eruptions at Galeras.

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BUFFALO, N.Y. — A collaboration involving physicians, researchers, graduate students and undergraduate students from three prominent regional institutions is intent on improving heart health in Western New York, an area with a heart disease death rate that is twice the national average.

The collaboration, which took shape in 2005, involves the University at Buffalo, Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center and Niagara University (NU) ,and converges at The Heart Center of Niagara (HCON), part of Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center in Niagara County, where rates of cardiovascular disease and mortality from the disease are the greatest in the five-county region.

As their first goal, the parties in this venture established a joint research program to evaluate non-invasive cardiac imaging methods for identifying, tracking and stratifying risk of coronary artery disease (CAD) in the population.

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“Salvador Dali,” an exhibition of works by the Spanish surrealist that coincides with the 20th anniversary of his death, will be presented June 27 through Aug. 27 by the UB Anderson Gallery.

It will feature 15 original drawings, two lithographs, a poster and a silver sculpture from the Edmund Klein Collection; two paintings from the UB Collection; and a sculpture and several drypoint etchings from the collection of Niagara University’s Castellani Art Museum.

The exhibition will take place in the second floor gallery of the Anderson, 1 Martha Jackson Place, off Englewood Avenue between Main Street and Kenmore Avenue. It will be free of charge and open to the public. Gallery hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Saturdays, and from 1-5 p.m. on Sundays. Further information and directions can be obtained from the gallery at 829-3754.

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BUFFALO, N.Y. — Forty-two University at Buffalo students and recent graduates with dreams of making it in the entertainment industry will be in Los Angeles June 27-28 to attend the University at Buffalo’s first “Coast to Coast Entertainment and Media Symposium” (UBC2C Hollywood) in the hopes of getting a foot in the door.

The students will attend workshops in acting, writing, directing, vocal performance, stand-up comedy, magazine journalism, independent film production and marketing, as well as on new trends in media coverage of the entertainment industry. A special Sunday mentoring session will give the students one-on-one access to industry veterans and Hollywood VIPs.

A generous donation by an anonymous UB alumnus is funding travel and attendance at the workshops for many of the UB students.

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National Grid is investing $250,000 in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences to create and enhance programs that encourage Buffalo Public School students to pursue education and careers in science and engineering. The contribution was announced today in UB’s Jacobs Executive Development Center in downtown Buffalo.

The contribution will augment existing programs, such as the award-winning BEAM (Buffalo-area Engineering Awareness for Minorities) program, which prepares inner-city, minority, female and other underrepresented students for careers in science, engineering and technology through afterschool and summer programs, and launch new initiatives that introduce young minds to careers in high-demand engineering fields, like biomedical engineering and green energy.

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WBFO-FM 88.7, UB’s National Public Radio affiliate, won 10 awards—including the coveted Stephen Flanders Memorial Award—at the New York State Associated Press Broadcasters Association’s annual awards banquet.

The Flanders award—the AP’s highest radio honor—is given to the station (commercial or public) in New York deemed by the judges to “exemplify the best traditions of journalistic initiative and dedication in providing a complete news service to the listening public.” The honor is awarded to the station receiving the greatest number of top finishes in the competition.

WBFO won six first place awards and four honorable mentions; it garnered more first place awards than any other radio station.

This is the second time in the past three years that WBFO has received the Flanders award.

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BUFFALO, N.Y. — Stephen L. Dyson, Ph.D., of Williamsville, Park Professor of Classics at the University at Buffalo, has been named a fellow of the convivial and scholarly Society of Antiquaries of London, the world’s premiere learned society for heritage and a distinguished international association founded in 1707 to encourage, advance and further the study and knowledge of the antiquities and history of Britain and countries abroad.

Fellows are elected by existing members of the society in recognition of their significant achievement in the heritage field, and are entitled to use the initials FSA after their names.

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UB’s 100-percent smoke-free policy will take effect on Aug. 1, with smoking prohibited in all buildings and on the grounds—including in the parking lots and green spaces—of the university’s three campuses.

The policy, which was announced last Nov. 20— onthe American Cancer Society’s Great American Smokeout—was endorsed by the UB Council at Monday’s meeting. The council also approved changes in the Student Conduct Rules that were necessary to implement the smoke-free policy.

UB joins a growing list of U.S. colleges and universities—305 at last count, according to the lobbying organization Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights—that have enacted 100-percent smoke-free policies.

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BUFFALO, N.Y. — A University at Buffalo student who took a circuitous route from undergraduate psychology major to cancer-researcher-in-training received one of four inaugural Doctoral Diversity Fellowships in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) awarded by State University of New York’s Office of Diversity and Educational Equity.

Carlos D. Cedeno, a Buffalo resident, will receive an annual $20,000 stipend for three years, plus $2,000 annually, to support research and professional development. He will use the fellowship to enter UB’s Molecular Pharmacology and Cancer Therapeutics Doctoral Program at Roswell Park Cancer Institute in fall 2009.

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The Graduate School of Education has launched a series of new one-credit mini courses designed to reach educators and teachers interested in advancing their training while re-acquainting themselves with the practical and personal power of continuing education.

The 23 new courses, all shorter than standard three-credit-hour classes, cover such life skills as grief counseling for students and professional-development topics like “Creating Dynamic Online Spaces for Teaching and Learning.”

“Besides advancing your professional expertise, these new courses also are examples of how much fun learning can be,” says Mary H. Gresham, dean of the Graduate School of Education. “They offer a chance to meet others who are interested in the same things you are and a chance to explore ideas with others.”

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